Tiny Pollinator

This is (to my best guess) Halictus ligatus (Ligated furrow/sweat bee) and she was very busy gathering pollen in my patch of day lilies this afternoon.  You can get a pretty good idea from this image how tiny she is.  Lacking pollen "sacks" on her legs, she transports her precious cargo in the fine hair on her legs.  I really should have had extension tubes or the Raynox on the lens as this was a bit too small for my macro lens, thus heavily cropped.  Couldn't pass it up, though!

UPDATE: it seems that this may be Genus Lasioglossom, not Halictus!

I also spotted my first Longhorn Milkweed Beetle (click HERE to view on IG) and several Margined Calligrapher hover flies.  The arthropod season is kicking into high gear which makes me very, very happy.  Whenever Hubs has lost track of my whereabouts this time of year, he knows to look in the gardens.  

While I had my head in the garden, Jax sounded the bear alarm and I spotted the smallish bear back in the woods.  It paused for a moment and then took off into the deep woods.  Having a macro lens in hand, there was no chance of getting a shot.  

I had a quick peek in the swallow nest box this morning - mom didn't leave until I started to open the box.  She and the male swooped around until I finished and then he came and guarded the nest while she pursued insects.  They never leave the nest unattended which is smart since there are House Sparrows in the neighborhood as well as House Wrens, both of which nest in boxes and have been knowing to evict birds from boxes they want.  I don't think they are match for this pair of swallows, though.  

I'll tag this for TinyTuesday with thanks to SK for hosting this month.  Also adding this to my YardBugs record for the year.  

Dark with nuts today.

xo
Debbi